In May 2014, the NSW Government announced the purchase of what would end up being 61 new 10-carriage trains, then called the NIF (New Intercity Fleet), to replace the 52 ageing 8-carriage V-Set and OSCAR trains. They would eventually be named D-Set or Mariyung trains and remain set to operate in the intercity rail network, to Newcastle, the Blue Mountains, and South Coast. The first were expected on the network in 2019, with the rollout to be completed by 2024.
In October 2016, a decision was made for the D-Sets to be the same proportions as the existing suburban double deck trains. The V-Sets were 2,928mm wide but suburban trains are 3,034mm wide. As suburban platforms were designed to fit the wider suburban trains, this meant that the V-Sets had wider gaps between the train door and the platform, which the newer D-Sets would not have, making the D-Sets more accessible. However, this would mean enlarging several tunnels in the Blue Mountains that were only large enough for the smaller V-Sets. This became the first controversy of the D-Sets, with the NSW Opposition often arguing that the Government ordered “trains too small big to fit through existing tunnels”.
Following suggetions as early as 2016 that the new trains could be operated by a driver only, in December 2019 the NSW Government would announce plans for D-Sets to be staffed by a driver with no guard onboard. Although the previous Waratah Trains were delievered with no guards compartment in the middle of their 8-carriage sets (guards would instead sit in the other drivers compartment located at the rear of the train) and cameras could possibly allow driver only operation for them, no plans were ever made public to make the Waratahs driver only. Therefore, the D-Sets would mark the first time that passenger trains in NSW would operate as driver only on the Sydney Trains network.
In response to this announcement, the NSW Rail, Tram, and Bus Union (RTBU) demanded modifications to the D-Sets in February 2020 before its members would work on the new trains. Eventually, the Government dropped its plans for driver only operation in March 2021, but refused to carry out the modifications which the RTBU was calling for.
In July 2021, the Independent Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator gave approval for the D-Sets to enter service “as soon as possible”. Then Transport Minister Andrew Constance said that “the train cannot physically move until all the doors are closed”, a sticking point with the RTBU who wanted guards to be able to keep their door opened for safety reasons.
The dispute reached boiling point in February 2022 when the RTBU announced plans for industrial action and Sydney Trains responded by shutting down the network for 24 hours. The confrontation was widely seen as a win for the RTBU, with the Government changing its tune on the RTBU’s desired modifications soon after. Although the Government at one point claimed that these modifications would add an additional $1 billion to the existing $2.8 billion cost, this was later budgeted for $264 million in June 2022.
However, this wasn’t the end of the negotiations, as the RTBU still had their wage claim. The Government was offerring pay increases of 3.0% and 3.5% in each of the next two years, above the previously legislated 2.5% pay cap that has been in place for the last decade. The RTBU wanted an extra 0.5% in each year. The current rate of inflation is 6.1%, for comparison. But with negotiations now moving from safety to pay, the Premier Dominic Perottet decided in August 2022 that no further negotiations would occur. Rail workers would be given the opportunity to vote on the current offer on the table, a process that would likely take 5-6 weeks. If it is voted down, then the Government will seek to terminate the existing enterprise agreement, a process that could take 2-3 months in court.
Commentary: What is this dispute really about?
The industrial dispute on Sydney’s railways is all about pay and conditions. The workers want a pay rise that is commensurate with the current high inflation and want to ensure that automation does not eliminate the guard role on trains. They are entitled to make these claims, particularly in a time of high inflation and elevated cost of living pressures. But the argument that this is about safety is merely a thin smokescreen to achieve these goals of better pay and condition.
The new D-Sets are safe. The national independent regulator has said as much. They are much safer than the old V-Sets they are set to replace. The RTBU claims to be concerned about safety, yet also want guard doors to remain open even while the trains are in motion, potentially allowing guards to fall out of a moving train, They repeatedly refuse to operate any overseas made trains as part of their current industrial action – trains that are newer and safer than the older Australian made ones.
Meanwhile, industrial action by the RTBU in February of this year in which the NSW Government massively overreacted and shut down the entire rail network with only hours’ notice left the Government with egg on their face. The Government tried to argue that it was due to a strike, it was industrial action, and that it left them with no choice but to shut down the network, despite there being the option for reduced services. Even more embarrassing was that the Transport Minister, David Elliot, was absent and sleeping when the decision was made. The RTBU would have felt emboldened by this, rightly so given the poor choice of response by the Government.
Yet since then, virtually all of the safety demands of the RTBU have been agreed to by the Government. They wanted to maintain 2-person operation; the Government allowed it. They wanted the trains modified, at a cost of $260m; the Government agreed to it. They wanted an annual pay rise above the 2.5% cap; the Government provided one (albeit still 0.5% less than the RTBU wanted). Now it’s reached the point where even Opposition Leader Chris Minns is calling on the RTBU to suspend their industrial action.
That is what led to Premier Dominic Perottet’s ultimatum this week on the current Government’s offer: take it or leave it. He has seemingly had enough and must think he has a reasonable chance that enough members of the public might sympathise with his conclusion. Either way, they are likely to cast their judgement at the ballot box next year on this matter.
Transport Sydney 